How to choose it and know the its different aspects like-pumping frequency, bottle feeding, pumping bag and pumping bra?
Choosing A Breast Pump
It is very important to invest in a good quality electric pump. Hygeia Enjoye and Medela Pump are in style, advanced and loved by many.One can choose based on the frequency of pumping and cost involved. Nevertheless, a double electric pump is highly recommended if you are a working mom who will pump atleast twice a day.
Bottle Feeding
You should at least for 6 months exclusively breastfeed your baby. And when it comes to feeding bottle, it is not that easy on initial days. But, by the time it will be very convenient, especially for working ladies.
Then, you can start pumping and bottle feed your baby. One advice for the mommies who are going to resume their work, start feeding with a bottle a month earlier your joining. So that your baby becomes comfortable with it and you can set the routine accordingly.
On initial days you can start pumping once a day and give baby bottle feed once a day only. And gradually you can increase it as per the baby demands.
Some suggestions in getting the baby to bottle feed
a) Try a few different brands before investing in a lot of bottles. Philips avent 3+months teat works well from the
beginning until the date you start weaning bottles.
b) Irrespective of the bottle brand and the age of the baby, choose a wide based teat to avoid nipple confusion and
with the slowest flow so the baby doesn’t reject your breasts.
c) Follow paced bottle feeding when feeding breastmilk through a bottle.
d) Introduce a bottle preferably by the person who is going to feed baby when you will be away.
e) Get an estimate of how much your baby would need per feed. Usually the thumb rule of 1oz per hour that you are
away works. Keeping this as the base, as time progresses, you can modify the quantity based on your baby’s demand.
Building Stash :
Start building a stash one week before resuming work. Pump every time, after breastfeeding the baby directly, marking the date and time on the freezer bags ( use permanent markers only), store them and put them into the freezer.
Initially the pumping output might be low. But once your body gets used to the pump and the pumping routine, the output gets better.
You can use Lansinoh breastmilk bags. You can order them on amazon. There are sets of 100milk bags available. These are cost effective also.
Lansinoh’s is a bit on the pricey side, but are great in terms of quality. If you want to opt for less expensive ones, Pigeon is a good brand and is available on FirstCry.com.
What should be in your pump bag
Firstly, for a pump bag, there is no need to buy anything fancy. Use simple and a medium sized wildcraft duffle bag or any bag you have at your home.
It should be perfect to fit the following :
a) Electric pump and its adapter (Add a few batteries to the list if you want to have a power backup)
b) A food grade plastic box to keep flanges, duckbill valves and the connectors. (After each pumping session, wash the
flanges, duckbill valves and other accessories that came in contact with the breasts and the milk, with hot
drinking water, from the office dispenser).
c) Medela breastmilk cooler kit ( keeps milk cool for a good 7-8 hrs)
d) A roll of labels ( to mark the time of the pumping session and stick on the bottle top)
e) A pen.
f) A Tupperware water bottle, to drink water during the pumping sessions (You will see better output when you will
drink ample water during pumping) and to wash the accessories post sessions.
Pumping Bra
You can buy a pumping bra from stores or you can get it online as well. Or if you do not want to invest in as they are a bit expensive, you can take 2-3 old bra but well-fitting bras and make a hole in the Center to the exact measurement of your flanges.
Pumping Frequency
When the baby is 1-6 months old, doctors recommend to feed every 2 hours. As the baby grows and starts eating other food, feeding time and its frequency decreases. And accordingly you can pump as per your baby’s feeding frequency.
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